Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan, takes a look at the factors likely to influence the emergence of the next governor of Ebonyi State.
As the 2015 general elections draw closer, the three political blocs in Ebonyi State are neck deep in negotiations and alignments in their quest to produce the next governor of the state. Politicians across the state are back on the drawing board amidst insinuations that Governor Martins Elechi wants the slot to go to the southern senatorial district.
The political permutations in the state suggest that, in 2015, ethnic consideration will lead the pack of factors that will come to the fore in the battle for the governorship ticket of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The argument of the governor and others agitating for the slot to be given to Afikpo is that with Governor Elechi and his predecessor, Dr. Sam Egwu, coming from the central and northern senatorial districts respectively, it is only natural that the south be allowed to take a short at the governorship of the state.
“The governor is only speaking the mind of the people of the state. The people want equity and fairness to be on display in 2015 and that is where the idea of the south being supported to produce the governor emanated from.
“Sam Egwu who was governor between 1999 to 2007, is from the northern senatorial district. The current governor who will be leaving in 2015 is from the central senatorial district. And we have three senatorial districts. The south is yet to take a shot at the governorship since the creation of Ebonyi State in 1996.
“So if the party and the governor are now saying let us give this people a chance to produce the governor for equity sake, shouldn’t that be embraced by all? Those opposing the idea are ethnic warlords and tribal jingoists,” a chieftain of the PDP said during the week.
The Nation learnt that the severe agitation by Afikpo leaders to have the PDP zone its gubernatorial ticket to their zone is based on the fact that the south senatorial zone of the state is yet to have one of its own as governor of the state while the Abakaliki bloc, with its two senatorial zones of central and north, has produced two governors since the inception of the current democratic dispensation in 1999.
Observers of the politics of the state say the southern senatorial district, known as old Afikpo bloc of the state, was carved out of Abia State, while the central and north known as Abakaliki bloc was carved out of Enugu State, when what is today known as Ebonyi State was created in 1996 by Late Head of State, Gen Sani Abacha.
“The politics of the state has been between the Abakaliki and Afikpo blocs but Abakaliki bloc has numerical strength an edge over the Afikpo bloc. So, with the population of the Abakaliki bloc comprising eight council areas and Afikpo bloc which has five council areas, it is a known fact that in any free and fair election Abakaliki will win.
Several efforts by the Afikpo bloc in the past to contest the governorship with the Abakaliki bloc haven’t yielded the desired result. And given the numerical advantage being enjoyed by the Abakaliki people, the belief is that it will be impossible for the south to produce a governor,” Chief David Ayogu, a chieftain of the PDP, explained.
Ayogu also said except for a development like the assurance by Elechi to hand over power to somebody from the south, it would have been foolhardy for gladiators of Afikpo extraction to even dream of winning the governorship primaries of any of the leading political party.
“But with this promise by the governor to ensure that an Afikpo man emerges as governor, I think the aspirants from the zone can start scheming on how to get the governorship ticket of the ruling party, knowing very well that PDP is the party to beat in Ebonyi State. I think this is one major reason for all these alignments and realignments we are seeing across the state,” he added.
In arriving at his decision to support the southern senatorial district’s quest for the governorship, Elechi said his position is derived from the fact that the people of the zone, having participated equally in the fight for the creation of the state, it would only be in the interest of justice and equity to give them the opportunity to also rule the state.
Elechi, who made the promise during a media briefing to mark the last Democracy Day, said his decision was based on the fact that it was morally right to shift power to the southern part of the state in 2015, since power started from the north and now at the central.
He noted that though there was never a charter of equity as alleged in some quarters, it was the desire of all the founding fathers of the state for power to rotate among the zones which was never written down or signed by any person or group of persons.
He said as one of the surviving founding fathers of the state, it is his duty to keep the dream alive. He, however, added that his decision to shift power to the south senatorial zone was personal which would need both the stakeholders and the party to rectify and finally agree upon.
Naturally, Elechi’s position on the struggle for the governorship has emboldened politicians from Afikpo to venture into the hitherto uncertain terrain of vying for the governorship of the state. Leading the pack of aspirants to have openly declared their interest in the job is the current deputy governor of the state, David Umahi.
The deputy governor, who was former chairman of the party in the state before being picked by the governor in 2011 as running mate, is banking on his influence within the party and his position as the leader of the party in his senatorial district to emerge as the preferred aspirant when the race for the ticket eventually kicks off.
But Elechi’s announcement raised a lot of dust even among his aides. Disagreeing with Elechi on his idea of power rotation, the people of Abakaliki bloc appear not to be relenting on their resolve to ensure that one of their own takes over from him.
The bloc, with its larger population, and political heavyweights, according to sources, is capable of thwarting the ambition of aspirants from the south if it insists on fielding candidates for the party primaries in 2015.
“Elechi’s kinsmen are not leaving anything to chance in stopping him from giving power to Afikpo. And being the leading politician in government from the area, the only threat politicians from Abakaliki see is Dave Umahi, the deputy governor. There is this fear that he is the man Elechi has in mind and they will do everything to stop him.
“They know what Dave is capable of, and if you allow him get his political permutation and calculation right, I bet you, no one from the zone can challenge him. If he gets the PDP ticket, Abakaliki people knows he would become unstoppable in 2015,” a source said.
But pundits have also come to say the factors that will determine which side the governorship will shift to will be more than the mere desires of the governor and the quest for the position by a section of the state.
“It is going to be more of a game of numbers among all the three senatorial districts. Don’t forget that the people of Ezza in the northern senatorial zone are saying they want a shot at the governorship. The Izzi people of the central senatorial district too want to produce a governor.
“These two clans have more population that the Afikpos. So, even if the governor wants an Afikpo man, unless the zone is able to get support from other clans and groups within the state, it will remain a mere wish.
“However, the Afikpo bloc could benefit from the sharp division and impending disagreement between the two most powerful clans in Abakaliki bloc, the Ezzas and Izzis. So if the Afikpo people can penetrate the other two districts and garner support, then Elechi’s dream of producing a governor from the south may come to fruition,” a chieftain of the PDP said.
